Flow-controlling mechanism for crusher-feeders



Oct. 4, 1955 A. G. N ICKLE FLOW-CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR CRUSHER-FEEDERS Filed May 51, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIE. 4

IN V EN TOR.

FIG. 5

United States Patent O FLOW-CONTROLLING. MECHANISM FOR CRUSHER-FEEDERS' Arthur G. Niekle,-. Saginaw, Mich., assignor. to. Nickle.

This. invention relates toan improved flow-controlling mechanism for two-roll type crusher-feeders for use in reducing and'feeding bulk materials, such as ear corn with husks, to feed-grinding mills or other processing.

machines that require a controlled rate. of influx.

One object of this invention is to provide a flow-controlling mechanism for reducing and feeding machines which affords relatively large discharge outlets as conr paredfwith conventional ear corn crusher-feeders, so that whenhandling ear corn with husks, the husks may escape freely insteadv of accumulating in the reducing chamber and curtailing the output of the reduced material.

Another object is to provide a flow-controlling mechanism that willinot be crowded open as a result ofthematerial being forced through the valve by the coacting rolls.

A further object is to provide a. valve mechanism that has. no valve arms underlying the discharge openings. In conventional earcorn crusher-feeders, husks tend to become entangled on such arms, thereby clogging the. valve openings and interferingwith the closing movement.

of the valves.

Inthe drawings:

Fig. 1 isa. plan view of a'two roll type crusher-feeder in which my invention is embodied. s

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 with the flow-controlling mechanism par-. tially open to allow the discharge of reduced material, the control handle for the mechanism being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary bottom view that corresponds to Fig.1, some of the parts being; broken away to more clearly show the construction of the flow-controlling mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a side view taken fromthe right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5- is an enlarged fragment taken from Fig. 2, the valve plates of the flow-controlling mechanism being positioned to completely interrupt the discharge of the reduced material, the relative position of the valve. plates being shown in broken lines when the rate of effiux is a maximum.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary isometric view of a pair of slidably. mounted valve plates employed in the flow control mechanism, the broken lines showing the position of the valve plates with respect toeach'other when the discharge of the material is completely interrupted.

In the drawings the numeral 10 generally designates a rectangular housing which receives the ear corn or material (not shown) that is to be reduced. The housing comprises vertical end walls 11 and sloping side walls 12, the end walls 11 being made to support flanged bearings 13 (Fig. 4) in which a pair of roll shafts 14 and 15 are journaled for rotation in the direction indicated by arrows in Fig. 2. The shafts are made coacting by intermeshing gears 16 mounted on the projecting ends of the shafts, the power being applied to the end 17 of shaft 14.

The roll shafts carry a series of axially spaced teeth 18with formed distal end cutting edges whichcoact witha centrally dispose shear b21120. whichb r, togeth r: with .its supnortine ase. .1., span h u g .10 in; pa allel relation-t th -axis. of. the roll nd. orms a..rigi,d... .ross.

bar: element. that is, adapted. to re ive mpac f om the.

descending teethon either roll shaft.

Underlying shafts ,14 and 15. are. elon ted. discha ge outlets-22.. and 23:,v respectively, eaehoutlet being-.formedon sidel y. ascllof the central imp t-rece ving elettl ltr on opposite side 25, ylhchottomof s oping w ll 2. and.

on the ends by angle-shaped. horizontal r il 26. attach d:

o .endwalls .1-

The-flow of reducedmateri lthrough d scharg outl ts.

22 andliis. interrupted by. rectangular valve platesQZJ. nd .zsrespective y, hese platesheing l da ly m unted upon upper fac s 22 of: rails 26.in.overl ppinerelationr therewith as, shown inFig. ,4.v but their, respective ends. do. not. contact. the vertical. end. walls (-11, 1,1,). of the. When. the valv -plates. are. simul aneon x. moved towards each other in co-ordinatedrelatiq it housing.

fliuxesfrom the tw disc a ge tlets. are interrup ed.

es mc amoun and whentheleadingedges of he val e.

plates are positioned in underlapping relation with the,-

beingronndin horizont l section. n pr jecting down;

wardlytocnsasc a. camwhich w ll hev suh eque tlyder scribed; Y

Themeans for actuatingyalve plate28. includesza yoke.

which isgcnerally designated as'FiAt-F 6),.and which mcludes vertical. rihSS. formed inte ra withv thehott m;

of; platezs. Underlying. each-en of valv plate. 28 and.

downwardly spaced therefrom. is a, horizontalarm. Q6,

which. is...rigid y. atta hed to ends. of ri 35 nd; at. righ angles thereto. Yokearms. ar spaced. apart to traddle dl charge open gs 2.2-4.3. and pr j t. t e-seine.

side of theh nsingas armsdl of yoke. 30, die u er'ends being tied together] bycross bar 37 which. carries cam follow r 3.8. r i yll d h reto an Projec i g down,-. wardlyf therefroms Cross bar 37 is formed. with its middle portion raised to an elevation which positions can1 .fgl lower 38 in same horizontal plane as .cam'follower 33 onyokedtl- .The means for. simultaneously m v ng val e plates:

27+.2 ininyerse: relation. includes, oscillatable am plate 39 havmg r pair of. spiral tracks 40-4 -1 f. ncreas ng,

di meter for engag g c m ollowers 33. and-s8.- Cami Plate 39 is manually oscillated a out .a Vertica r ishy.

stem 42. fixed. thereto andprojecting pw rdly t receive control h ndle 43. these soill t bl el m nts being, s pported ybracket 44 fixed to either side of he hous mg. The. lower end of the stem se si-n aperture 45 in the bracketanda ove. th bracketis setcollar. whichupports campla e39 in working relation with,-.=.= :f. l-

lowers 33 and 38. Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, when the cam plate is moved in clockwise direction, the cam followers move towards each other, thereby interrupting the discharge of material through valve openings 2223, and vice versa. The valve plates and cam followers move in a straight line, valve plate 27 and follower 33 being guided by arms 3131 of yoke 30 which straddle stem 42 and move in sliding contact therewith. The guiding means for valve plate 28 and follower 38 are 3 arms 3636 of yoke 34, these arms being in sliding contact with end walls 11-11 of the housing, or stationary elements supported by the walls.

As the rate of discharge from valve openings 2223 is increased when valve plates 2728 are moved away from each other, and as adjacent roll teeth 18 travel concurrently therewith, there is a tendency for the outgoing material to crowd the valve plates open, thereby causing an unwarranted increase in the rate of discharge. To hold the adjusted valve plates against such unwarranted movement, spiral cam tracks 4041 are made with a rise on the pitch line curve that is relatively small as compared with the distance traveled by each of the cam followers. In other words, the cam tracks are formed to obtain a pressure angle on the pitch line curve that is low enough to hold the cam followers against outward travel. In practice, it is found that this pressure angle should not exceed 8 to obtain the needed locking effect, this angle being measured at any point on the pitch line curve with respect to a tangent and a line normal to a radius passing through the point. To obtain valve openings wide enough to freely discharge reduced earcorn containing husks, without employing an excessively large cam plate, it becomes necessary to make cam tracks 40-41 long enough to afford an oscillatory movement of the cam plate that is in excess of 180.

In operation the descending teeth on the coacting rolls tend to sweep the escaping particles of material angularly through the valve openings in opposite directions away from the central impact-receiving element. The discharge from valve opening 22 is guided in a more downwardly direction by vertical rib 47 (Figs. and 6) carried by valve plate 27, this rib serving as a battle to deflect the escaping material towards the center of the housing. The rib 35 on valve plate 28 serves the same purpose with respect to the material flowing through valve opening 23. In addition, as ribs 47 and 35 are formed integral with the bottom of their respective valve plates, they also serve as means for strengthening the span of the plates.

It will be further noted that the above described flowcontrolling mechanism is workable if the central impactreceiving element, which comprises shear bar and base 21, is eliminated. In this case the leading edges of the valve plates will be in abutting relation when the efliux is completely interrupted.

Although this invention pertains more especially to machines used for crushing and feeding ear corn to feedgrinding mills, it is also adapted for reducing corn cob to a size suitable for litter or mulch, the size being determined by the width of the elongated valve openings which parallel the rolls. The rate of output is, of course, relatively small when producing a small sized product, and vice versa.

What I claim is:

1. In a flow-controlling mechanism for a machine that feeds bulk material, a housing containing material, a pair of outlets in the bottom of the housing, a pair of slidably mounted valve plates for simultaneously interrupting the discharge through the outlets, said interruption being effected when the valve plates move towards each other, a yoke having a pair of arms fixed to each valve plate and projecting to one side of the housing, the arms of one of the yokes being spaced apart and straddling the discharge outlets, a cam follower mounted on the free end of each yoke for movement therewith, means supported by the housing and oscillatable about a vertical axis for moving the valve plates in inverse relation, said oscillatable means being a cam plate, a pair of spiral tracks of increasing diameter in the cam plate for engaging the cam followers, said tracks being formed in overlapping relation to afiord an angular movement of said cam plate that is in excess of a stem fixed to the cam plate, said stern having a handle for moving the valve plates, and means for guiding movement of the cam followers in a straight line.

2. In a flow-controlling mechanism for a crushing and feeding machine, a housing containing bulk material, a pair of discharge outlets in the bottom of the housing, means for interrupting the two streams of material flowing through the outlets, said means being a pair of valve plates slidably mounted for movement towards each other to effect the interruption, a pair of downwardly coacting rolls overlying the valve openings, said rolls having teeth that cast the two streams of material in diverging directions, and means carried by the valve plates for deflecting the diverging streams in a more downwardly direction, said deflecting means being a downwardly projecting baflie positioned substantially below the leading edge of each valve plate.

3. In a flow-controlling mechanism for a feeding machine, a housing containing bulk material, a pair of discharge outlets in the bottom of the housing, a slidably mounted valve plate for each outlet, a yoke having a pair of arms fixed to each valve plate and projecting to ing the cam followers, a handle with stem fixed to the cam plate for adjusting valve plates to obtain a predetermined rate of discharge, and means for holding the adjusted valve plates against unwarranted movement which will increase the predetermined discharge rate, said holding means being the cam tracks formed with a curvature that affords a pressure not exceeding 8 on the cam follower pitch line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS V 416,533 Winchell Dec. 3, 1889 430,646 Hickey June 24, 1890 461,789 Winchell Oct. 20, 1891 682,158 Adelsperger Sept. 10, 1901 751,488 Engel Feb. 9, 1904 998,014 Kingsley July 18, 1911 1,087,415 Welton Feb. 17, 1914 1,247,682 Howell Nov. 27, 1917 1,555,886 Snyder Oct. 6, 1925 1,705,582 May Mar. 19, 1929 1,840,505 Gray Jan. 12, 1932 2,271,170 Danker Jan. 27, 1942 2,539,317 Nickle et al Jan. 23, 1951 2,562,282 Nickle et al. July 31, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 20,009 Great Britain Oct. 24, 1893 165,837 Austria Apr. 25, 1950 

